systems design

SYSTEMS DESIGN

PROJECT BRIEF

1. Understanding the system of teaching kindergarden children with learning disabilities or any of its symptoms.

2.Studying the prevalent curriculum and education system of Indian Preschools. Therefore, creating a holistic learning environment by encouraging social inclusion/behaviour in children with disabilities through the concept of play & learn.

PART 1

1.Defining / Introduction to Learning Disabilities.

2.Why choose preschoolers / kindergarden children. 3.Kinds of problems faced on a daily basis.

4.Behavioural Symptoms.

5.Existing system/ learning aids available in India.

Most commonly known as Dyslexia / Dysgraphia ..It a learning disorder that manifests itself as a difficulty with reading, spelling and in some cases mathematics.

Dyslexia is the result of a neurological defect/difference, and though not an intellectual disability.

Surface : Can read words phonetically but have problems with whole word recognition (i.e. yacht ---> yatchet).

Phonological : Can read familiar words by using whole word method but face difficulties in “sounding out” words that are new or letter-to-sound decoding prob-lems.

Spelling : Can read individual letters that lead to reading words if given enough time but face problems recognizing the word as a whole and phonetically (i.e. men ---> h-e-n).

Direct : Can read aloud without comprehension that is similar to speechcomprehension aphasias like anomia.

Dysphonetic : This is the largest of the three divisions. This is viewed as a disability in associating symbols with sounds. The misspellings typical of this disorder are phonetically inaccurate. The misreadings are substitutions based on small clues, and are also semantic.

Dyseidetic : In this group there are deficits in vision and memory of letters and word shapes. The person is unable to develop a sight vocabulary. However they have the ability to acquire adequate phonetic skills.

Alexic or mixed dyseidetic and dysphonetic : This subtype combines the deficit of the first two groups. This person may have disability in both sight vocabulary and phonetic skills. People with this form of dyslexia are usually unable to read or spell.

Visual Dyslexia : They cannot learn words as a whole component. The person has problems with visual discrimination, memory synthesis and sequencing of words. Re-versal of words or letters when reading, writing and spelling is common.

Auditory Dyslexia : They cannot link the auditory equivalent of a word to the visual component.

Why preschoolers / kindergarden children?

Many individuals with learning disabilities have a history of difficulties that begin well before kindergarten.

It is important to diagnose them and start remedial measures when the child is young.

If left unattended, children could get frustrated and loose confidence. They should be helped to deal with the academic and social problems that they may face. Otherwise, behavioural and emotional problems can arise.

They could become talented and gifted indivisuals if they are guided in the right di-rection in overcoming difficulties & working on their specific areas of strengths from an early age.

Kinds of problems faced daily.

Delays in speech.

Difficulty in learning new words.

Confused by letters, numbers, words, sequences, or verbal explanations.

Complain of dizziness, headaches or stomach aches while reading.

Letter reversal, ex: e b f p (normal)

Time & Directional confusion.

Difficulty with fine and/or gross motor skills and tasks.

Difficulty in following multiple instructions.

Behavioural symptoms.

Low self - esteem.

Agression.

Low attention span.

Vivid imagination.

Clumsy.

Highly creative.

High IQ yet may not fare well academically.

Behavioural symptoms.

They “zone out” or daydream often; easily loose track of time.

Excellent long-term memory for experiences, locations, and faces.

Think primarily with images and feeling, not sounds or words.

Extremely keen sighted and observant, or lack depth perception andperipheral vision.

Poor memory for sequences, facts and information that has not beenexperienced.

Strong sense of justice; emotionally sensitive; strives for perfection.

Existing teaching aids for Learning Disabilities.

1. Phonic Worksheets that include letter-shaped clues are a necessary part of a structured teaching program for all children, not only those with dyslexia; but for many children with auditory processing weaknesses.

2. Alphabet Hopscotch: Draw a regular hopscotch course using chalk. Instead of using numbers in the squares, place letters. There are different rules to playing this form of hopscotch. Have your child jump to the square of the letter sound you make. Do not call out the letter. This will allow them to connect the sound with the correct letter.

3. Wipe Boards: Dry erase wipe boards have shown to be very effective when teaching young children with dyslexia. The colorful dry erase markers allow children to practice writing without the frustration. If they make a mistake, they can simply erase what they have written and start over. This is great for helping them with math, color, numbers, and letters.


4. Memory Games : Using index cards, write one letter per card in the uppercase form and lower case form. Using half the stack, lay the cards out face down and have the child flip over two at a time until they find matching cards. As they get better with the matching, gradually increase the amount of cards to include the full deck. This method can also be used with numbers.

5. Flash cards : To help them learn their sounds and prepare them for reading, you will need a flash card deck with animal pictures and a flash card deck with letters. Hold up an animal card and have the child select which alphabet card is needed to begin spell-ing or pronouncing the animals name. For example, if a giraffe is held up, the child will need to hold up the letter “G”.


6. Multisensory techniques : Stimulating visual reasoning & learning

- Text and/or pictures on paper, posters, models, projection screens, or computers;

- Film, video, multi-image media, augmentative picture communication cards or devices, finger spelling and sign language;

- Adaptive Reading Materials

- Use of color for highlighting, organizing information, or imagery;

- Graphic organizers, and outlining passages; and

- Student-created art, images, text, pictures, and video.


7. Auditory Techniques : focus on sound and stimulate verbal reasoning .

- Computerized text readers, augmentative communication devices; auditory trainers; hearing aids; books on tape, podcasts, and peer-assisted reading.

- Video, film, or multi-image media with accompanying audio.

- Music, song, instruments, speaking, rhymes, chants, and language games.


8. Tactile Teaching Methods : Using the sense of touch.

- Math Manipulatives : Represent number values to teach math skills such as counting, addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division;

- Using modeling materials such as clay and sculpting materials, paper mache to create models.

- Sand trays, raised line paper, textured objects, sensory putty, finger paints, andpuzzles to develop fine motor skills.


9. Kinesthetic Methods : Using body movements ; involve fine and gross motor movement such as:

Preschool and primary games involving jumping rope, clapping, stomping or other movements paired with activities while counting, and singing songs related to concepts.

Any large motor activity for older students involving dancing, beanbag tossing, basketball, or other such activities involving concepts, rhythmic recall, and academic competition such as current events quizzes, flashcard races, and other learning games.

PART 2

1.Understanding the system of Preschools.

2.Existing preschool curriculum. 3.Kinds of activities.

4.When are the children introduced to reading ;writing & how.

5.Existing system/ learning aids available in India.

Preschools ..

Preschools arent places where formal education is imparted,they are places where children have their first taste of independence. And today, with both the parents working, preschool is becoming an inevitable part of a child’s life.By independence, it means a child remaining away from his parents for a couple of hours, thus breaking free off the separation anxiety. At play schools, children are exposed to a lot of basic preschool learning activities that help them to get independent faster. These preschool activities help develop in children many self-help qualities like eating food themselves, dressing up, maintaining cleanliness etc.

Preschools ..

Besides this, preschool learning activities help the children learn basic etiquettes like exchanging greetings, sharing of food and toys, identifying their possessions, etc. One big advantage is that as children interact with children of their own age, they tend to develop their language skills at a fast pace .Play schools also prepare children for the bigger school, instilling self-confidence and independence in them.

So sending a child to a preschool is helpful as long as it identifies the correct student-teacher ratio and where the concepts of a play school is very clear.

Preschools ..

Preschool education is the provision of education for children before the commencement of statutory education, usually between the ages of three and five, dependent on the jurisdiction.

Preschool is also known as nursery school, or kindergarten.

Preschool work is organized within a framework that professional educators create including structural (administration, class size, teacher-child ratio, etc.), process (quality of classroom environments, teacher-child interactions, etc), and alignment (standards, curriculum, assessments) components that are associated with each individual unique child that has both social and academic outcomes.

Preschools ..

The areas of development which preschool education are

Personal, social and emotional development

Communication, including talking and listening

Knowledge and understanding of the world

Creative and aesthetic development

Physical development

Mathematical awareness and development

Self-help and social skills

Age to begin Preschools ..

Preschool is generally considered appropriate for children between three and five years of age, between the toddler and school stages. During this stage of development, children learn and assimilate information rapidly, and express interest and fascination in each new discovery.

A child’s brain at this age is making connections that will last the rest of their life.

The environment of the young child influences the development of cognitive and emotional skills due to the rapid brain growth that occurs in the early years. Studies have shown that high quality preschools have a short and long term effect in improving the outcomes of a child, especially a disadvantaged child.

Special education in Preschools ..

In the United States, students who may benefit from special education receive services in preschools.

Since the inception of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Pub-lic Law 101-476 in 1975 and its amendments, PL 102-119 and PL 105-17 in 1997, the educational system has moved away from self-contained classrooms and pro-gressed to inclusion.

Therefore , there has been a need for special education teachers to practice in various settings in order to assist children with special needs, particularly by working with regular classroom teachers when possible to strengthen the inclusion of children with special needs.

Preschool Curriculum

As , at that age, children are ready to absorb anything that is taught to them, it is very essential that they are taught the right things in the right manner.

To ensure this, the lesson plans in kindergarten include various activities - like there are first day pre nursery lesson plans, which help in driving away any nervousness the children may be facing. These lesson plans may indicate various sessions wherein the children interact with different cartoon characters or simply play with the toys.

Then as the children settle down, the preschool lesson plan decides which activities to be performed on which day. There many be a number of learning activities divided over the week, and finally over the days. These lesson plans in kindergarten help the children, the teachers and the parents to understand what is to take place each day - this way all the three parties are well-equipped for the day.


Annual pre nursery school lesson planned by Kindergarden teachers helps them understand what needs to be done through out the year, thus ensuring that they live up to their standards & improve further. Alphabet Lesson Plans- In this preschool lesson plan, there will stripes in which fonts will be displayed in dotted lines, the children can trace these dotted lines and identify the alphabets.

Math Lesson Plans- There will be shapes and figures that will introduce children to circles, rectangles, squares, etc. Also, the children will be introduced to numbers and figurines through which they will learn counting.

Fun Theme Lesson Plans - This preschool lesson plan is filled with fun activities like- Garden Theme- Here children are made to copy-paste paper colors to flowers, make butterflies, bees, make gardens through hand prints and various such activities.


Kitchen Theme- Here children are introduced to vegetables, fruits, every-day items that are used in the kitchen…some even go as far as teaching children how to make sandwiches or burgers.

Other than these there are under mentioned available lesson plans too which one can include in their preschool curriculum and which can be provided to the preschoolers.

Preschool Art Lesson PlansPreschool Music Lesson PlansPreschool Science Lesson Plans

PART 3

1.Understanding the concept of “Learning with Play”.

2.The Final concept - Game Design.

Learning with Play

The project is an attempt at designing play objects that are a source of enjoyment, awareness and learning for children.The game can be a great source of overalldevelopment of kids.

It should take into consideration the following attributes:

A holistic system / concept / game for children with or without Learning Disabilitieswhich improves social interaction.

Instigate play that is not forced and keeps the child engaged for a considerable amount of time.

Boosts confidence / self respect.

Remove fear from the entire concept on a school [ unknown territory]/classmates / teachers / brings their talents and skills forward.

Learning with Play

A design intervention which addresses or even , to a certain extent,counters the following symptoms:

Classroom issues -

Difficulty in reading.

Understanding letters & their meanings.

Remembering letters & associating them to their respective forms.

Following multiple instructions.

Working on hand & eye coordination.

Learning with Play

A design intervention which addresses or even , to a certain extent,counters the following symptoms:

Behavioural symptoms -

Low attention span.

Anti - social behaviour.

Indulging their creative side.

Increasing their interaction with their colleagues / classmates / teachers.[acts as an ice breaker]

Having fun while they learn.

The final concept - Word Blender.

This concept has been designed to help children understand , & remember basic spellings using Basic blends which are 2 or more letters coming together to form a sound egs :ap -cap,nap .

Here blends with the vowel A are introduced which are placed on a rotating dial & there are visual ,sound & tactile clues for the child to make spellings using those blends.


The game:

1. The child rolls a pyramid [4 sides of a tetrahedron with clues] .


2. according to the pyramid dice , the child can chooseeither a :

VISUAL CARD - with a picture of what the word meansegs ; a cat as in C+ AT

SOUND CARD - the teacher conducting the game will pick upa sound card & spell out the word loud & clearfor the kids to guess.

BLINDFOLD - the kid is given any alphabet & he/she has to guess it just by touching its contours blindfolded i.e tactile approach to help associate the form of the alpha-bet with its sound]

FLUKE - no clue is needed & the child can try to create a spelling just by looking at the leftover spaces around the dial and guessing.


3. The rotating dial for the blends help the children create spellings by turning as per which letter they place where.

All the alphabet pieces are aligned in the same manner with an inner groove on their left hand side, which fits like a puzzle piece on the base of the dial.

This helps avoid confusion with letters like M or W , I or H ,etc.

It further strengthens the letter’s recall value in terms of its shape.


This game has been designed after researching on special needs education ,consulting psychologists & special needs teachers in India & understanding theproblems faced by children with learning disabilities & children in generalof the age group of 5 - 8 years.

It has been designed to teach English as a subject.

The sound cards also have clues in Hindi what one says is what one writes inhindi , therefore it avoids confusion in pronounciations.

The prototype is made in mountboard but the actual game will have plastic ,injection moulded pieces to add to visual appeal & to make it child - friendly.

Visual card Fluke

Sound cardVisual card

Visual card Blindfold

Here, the child is blindfolded &handed an alphabet which should

be identified just by touch.

THANK YOU

systems design

Documents

learning new words

learning disabilities

familiar words

sequencing of words

learning disorder

social problems

kinds of problems

visual dyslexia